So Close, Yet So Far
Synopsis After the shocking events of the first episode Madison and Travis' first instinct is to bring their loved ones together and leave the city. This leads them both into danger and separates them. Madison goes to the school for Nick and Travis meets some people who are going to play in big part in all their lives. Plot The episode picks up on the afternoon of the same day that the first episode, "Pilot", ended. Art Costa is walking the deserted corridors and checking on his school. Alicia is walking home, skateboarders passing her in the street. She stops outside a house. The Sale home, her boyfriend Matt's house. The front door is standing open, she goes in and calls out “Matt” and sees that a small table is overturned in the living area, flowers and a vase are on the floor. She keeps on calling for Matt but with no answer and she enters another room where we can hear hoarse breathing. Alicia reacts in shock and says “Oh My..” as she sees something we can’t. After the opening credits we see Travis’ pickup reversing out of the LA River access tunnel very quickly into the road where a large truck has to brake hard to avoid hitting them. Maddy, Nick & Travis are in the truck with Travis driving, Maddy is on the phone as they drive fast through the traffic, still with Calvin’s blood on the hood. Travis on the phone as well, saying “Call me right back!” presumably leaving a message for Chris and we hear Alicia’s voicemail message saying “... Alicia leave a message”. Madison leaves one “Baby call me back, call me back right away”. Nick is fiddling with the radio and we hear an announcer say “there’s been a massive spike in the officer related shootings in the last 48 hours”, which doesn’t really surprise me. Also a man talking about a “catastrophe of biblical proportions”, now that does surprise me, although that one turns out to be about “losing the best pocket passer in the league”. Travis tells Nick (again) to stop fiddling with the radio. Nick stops and sits back “no one’s talking about this” Travis says to Madison that they need to get out of the city and away from people, Maddy finally gets Alicia on the phone and starts giving instructions as Alicia tries to tell her that Matt is sick with a high fever. Madison says to not touch him and call 911, stay away from him but Alicia says that 911 is busy and that his parents are in Vegas and not answering. Madison replies that they’re on the way to pick her up and to stay away from Matt - the phone cuts off before they can finish talking. Chris on his way home, on the bus from school; he sits down and gets a call from Travis which he red buttons and goes back to his music, Travis' pickup truck bounces onto the drive at the Sale home, Travis, Madison and Nick go in and find Matt in bed being cared for by Alicia. Maddy tells “Alicia, move away from him”, Alicia doesn't move and argues “if he has it I have it”. Travis asks to talk to Matt and kneels by the bed, he asks about Matt’s parents, Alicia answers for him as Matt coughs. Travis sends her to get water, he's seen something under Matt's shirt and wants her out of the room so that he can get a proper look. Nick, meanwhile, is going through the bathroom cabinets looking for drugs. Travis uncovers a wound on Matt’s left shoulder and Matt confirms with a nod that it’s a bite. Travis and Madison talk about this briefly, comparing it with what happened to Calvin. Alicia comes back in, insists on going back to Matt who comforts her, saying that his parents will be home soon and that she knows he’ll be fine. Alicia protests and tells him that she loves him, he replies that he loves her too, and that that’s why she has to go. As she holds him Matt catches Madison’s eye who comes and gathers up Alicia, she thanks Matt and they leave. As Travis looks back Matt is coughing weakly. On the bus with Chris, the bus has stopped and he is watching an ambulance go past all sirens and lights. Whilst the bus is stopped a young man gets on and shouts that the police have shot a homeless man about 20 times, the kids rush off the bus to see what has happened. Back on the drive at the Clark Home and the neighbours across the road call out that they’re having a party, there are balloons and a bouncy castle, a family of three with a girl of 9, it’s her birthday. They say that a lot of people have cancelled because of the bug that’s going around and invite the Clarks. Travis says ok as he backs off up the drive. Next door to the Clarks a sick looking neighbour about Travis' age is loading his car with supplies. Travis looks at him and tells Maddy that “Peter’s got the right idea.” Inside Nick is looking through the blinds at the Cruz family and their party preparations across the street. He pesters Maddy about whether she’s going to tell them or not and eventually she says that she will. Nick worries aloud to his mother that “It’s as if it’s not real”, Madison, ironically, comforts him that yes, it’s real. He asks if she knows what’s about to happen to him and she says yes, she knows. He’s talking about the withdrawal he’s about to go through Travis decides to go and get Liza and Chris from the Ortiz Home, he washes the blood from the pickup before he goes and tells Maddy to leave without him if she has to. We see Maddy going across the road to speak to the Cruz’s as Travis drives away. On the way Travis hits traffic and calls Liza to arrange picking them up. Liza doesn’t know what’s going on and thinks he’s just trying to change the access agreement whenever he pleases; tells him she’ll see him next weekend, then she hangs up. Chris is in the city, walking with the crowd. There's an ambulance with an EMT treating a policeman for a bite on his arm. Alicia’s dressing table with all of the things that are precious to her: a letter from UCB, “Dear Miss Clark”. Pictures of Matt on the mirror, her phone with an image of her and Matt on the home screen. Her mother shouts that she needs the bucket. When Alicia goes in with it Maddy is leaving another message for the Dr, about Nick’s prescription. Alicia frets. They talk about where they can get the drugs Nick needs and Maddy has an idea. She tells Alicia not to leave the house and then goes. Travis is still in traffic; he sees a policeman loading up the trunk (boot) of his squad car with bottled water. Maddy arrives at the deserted school and goes in. She collects some keys from the Principal’s Office and goes to the medical room. She has the key to the room but not to the drugs cabinet - but she’s brought a small crowbar with her for that. She forces the cabinet open, taking the drugs she needs for Nick. She’s startled, badly scared by Tobias coming in behind her, he asks for his knife back. With Chris again and he’s at the back of a crowd trying to see what’s happening. He can see a body on the ground and he's filming everything. People in the crowd are saying that it’s wrong for the police to have shot the man. A police officer tries to calm them and tells Chris to stop recording after he’s pushed his way to the front of the crowd. “Do you want to go to jail son?” The crowd back Chris up, and he doesn't stop. At the school Madison and Tobias pick up his knife from her office, as they leave Maddy shuts the door and looks in through the glass and at her name on the door for a moment. Alicia brings Nick some food and then starts to leave to check on Matt. Nick, genuinely concerned about someone else for a change, shouts at her to stop. “You don’t know what it makes people do, you don’t know what I had to do.” She’s out the door and down the drive “Matt will hurt you, he’ll kill you Alicia” when she hears Nick stop shouting and the sound of him falling. She goes back in to find him having a seizure on the lounge floor. Travis arrives at the Ortiz Home and tries to explain things to Liza, she’s not aware of anything out of the ordinary and is has trouble accepting what he says at first. He calls Chris on Liza’s phone. Liza sees where Chris is (on the TV) and she puts aside her disagreement with Travis as they leave to get their son. Tobias leads Madison to the school kitchens and they collect food for him on a small trolley. Tobias talks as if he knows exactly what’s happening, he's clearly thought everything through very carefully. He asks if she’s seen any of “them” yet. She lies and says no. Tobias gets food together. Alicia is cleaning up the lounge floor with rubber gloves and a bucket, Nick is back with us and on the couch. She’s fretting about Madison and Travis. Nick says he’s sorry and thank you, but she’s still mad with him. In the background we can hear "Happy Birthday" being sung at the party across the road. At the school they are making their way out. Tobias is still talking sense. As they drop off the keys they can hear hoarse breathing on the classroom monitoring equipment and Tobias says “that’s one of them”. The metal detector on the main entrance goes off and that prompts them to rush for the exit.They enter the hallway by the stairs and Maddy sees Arty through the far doors, she calls out to him. Arty appears at the door, infected. Tobias sees what he is and backs off but can’t get through the doors. Arty walks towards Maddy - she wants to help and tries to fend him off. Art attacks and Tobias defends Miss C, he pushes Art away and stabs him in the chest with his knife. He goes for Arty’s head but loses his weapon, they rolls down the stairs with Arty still trying to bite him. Maddy searches inside her bag for something - but then sees the fire extinguisher at the top of the stairs in a cabinet. Once she's decided what to do she doesn't hesitate. She take the extinguisher and hits Arty on the head with it - repeatedly - until Arty stops attacking Tobias. A break and Maddy and Tobias are walking outside the school, it’s calm but they don’t have the food with them. As they walk along Maddy is looking all around them. The school is deserted but normal apart from that. They don't speak and Maddy is unnaturally calm; they get in her car. The crowd in the city is even more agitated now but Chris is continuing to film, he can see the riot police starting to arrive. Travis and Liz are close but haven't found him yet, and Travis pushes a way through to Chris, he tries to pull him away from the front of the crowd. Kneeling down Liza can see the body of the homeless man, he's been shot in the head and she watches as men in anti-infection suits get out of an ambulance. Concerned, she turns back and intervenes with Chris, who does as he's told. As they move away we see the riot police arrive and a young officer shoots a tattooed infected woman. She shoots her twice, in the chest and then the head. The crowd react to the shots by panicking and running in all directions. The Manawas run through an increasingly violent and frightening scene. As they run down some steps we see a sign dated Aug 7 2010 advertising Los Angeles Library Week. People are vandalising things at random and trying to overturn cars. Daniel Salazar, a barber is just finishing up with a customer, seeing him out of the door and closing up his shop because of the disturbances. He's already pulling the metal shutters down when the Manawas arrive at his door. They ask to go in until it's over, Daniel wants to refuse and tries to but his wife, Griselda Salazar, tells him, in Spanish, to let them in and shut the door. He doesn't look happy, but he does as his wife asks and lets them in and locks up, as he does so some young men kick at the shutters - the street is chaotic now. Travis is agitated and wants to know: Is there a back way out? Is there roof access so that they can see? Daniel wants him to slow down and to stay in the front, in the shop, and not go in the back which looks to be their home. Travis, Liza and Chris stride through followed by Daniel who tells them firmly to go back into the front, Travis is worried it won't be safe there. It's all starting to get tense when Ofelia Salazar enters from the back from her room. Daniel tells her to go back but she calms things nicely and invites the Manawas to "have a seat" in the front. Meanwhile Maddy is dropping off Tobias at his home and we hear a female voice on the radio advising people to stay inside and not to travel unless they have to. Madison and Tobias talk a little as he gets out and Maddy is obviously worried about him but stops short of insisting that Tobias come with her. Tobias goes inside and as she's about to pull away a car goes past with two little girls in the back - both wearing surgical masks with grotesque mouths drawn on them. Back at Salazar's Cuts things have settled down and the power has flickered back on for a short while and then off again. Travis comes to the curtain that separates shop from home and thanks Daniel. He gets "Thank my wife", without even a glance, in reply. Griselda is praying by some candles in a corner, a small but obviously well established shrine. Travis calls Chris away from the shuttered windows but then goes to look himself, Liza asks him what he knows about what is happening, and he tells her. She looks shaken by his reply. We see an arial shot of the city, whole blocks are losing power and going dark. Madison arrives home, everything's calm there, the power's on and it's as normal as it gets at the Clark home. Alicia lets her in and Nick is on the couch. Madison looks wrecked, unsurprisingly considering what she's just been through. She gives a couple of the pills to Nick. Nick recognises them at once as "Oxy" (oxycontin, a pain killer, aka "Oxy Cotton") and is very pleased. Nick asks what they will do when these are used up and reacts to Madison's annoyance by trying to deflect it - he tells her that Alicia tried to leave but that he stopped her. He doesn't mention that he stopped her by having a seizure and that Alicia probably saved his life. Madison picks up her jacket from the hallway, as she passes Alicia's door her daughter is leaving a message, probably for Matt, "I want to know how you're doing" we hear her say as she shuts her door. Maddy weeps in the bathroom as she washes her friend Arty's blood out of her jacket. Her phone rings, it's Travis and she's desperate to see him. They tell each other they're fine, Travis doesn't mention being in a riot and Maddy doesn't tell him that she had to kill her boss, abandon a student and that her son has had a seizure. Gunshots can be heard from Travis' end of the conversation and Madison becomes concerned. Travis wants her to leave for the desert now and not wait for him but she's not having any of that. The phone connection drops as we hear more gunshots and a police loud hailer outside the shop telling people to "Clear the streets now". In Salazar's Cuts the two groups of people seem more like one group now. Madison goes back into the living area where Alicia asks her what has happened. Madison doesn't answer, it looks as though she wants to but can't bring herself to say it. We see the stairs at the school, Arty's 2 way radio and his body on the landing 1/2 way down. Outside Matt's house, the Sale home, someone - presumably his parents - have left a car with its lights on and the trunk (the boot) open and half unloaded with luggage on the sidewalk (pavement). In the city outside Salazar's Cuts a car is burning in the street. Alicia's looking through the blinds, she sees an infected person shuffle past towards the Cruz's house opposite, she recognises him as Peter Dawson from next door but doesn't realise what he is now. She goes to her mother and asks her again what is happening. Madison looks as though she's about to answer when they hear a scream from outside. Dawson is attacking Joanna Cruz from the house opposite. Alicia runs to the door to go and help but Madison, again, does what is needed and stops Alicia from going out of the front door. At Salazar's Cuts, Griselda is praying at her shrine in the back room with her family while the Manawas fret and pace in the shop area. Griselda finishes her prayers and blows out the last candle. Deaths * Art Costa bitten by an infected person, put down by Maddie. * Homeless Man (off-screen, shot by police, presumed infected) * ND Infected Woman put down by a police officer, Gonzales. * Peter Dawson died from the infection. Cast Main Cast *Kim Dickens as Madison Clark *Cliff Curtis as Travis Manawa *Frank Dillane as Nick Clark *Alycia Debnam Carey as Alicia Clark *Elizabeth Rodriguez as Liza Ortiz *Mercedes Mason as Ofelia Salazar *Lorenzo James Henrie as Chris Manawa *Rubén Blades as Daniel Salazar Guest Cast *Patricia Reyes Spíndola as Griselda Salazar *Maestro Harrell as Matt Sale *Scott Lawrence as Art Costa *Lincoln A. Castellanos as Tobias Co-Cast *Noah Beggs as Peter Dawson *Stormy Ent as "ND Woman" *Howie Lai as "Bystander" *Darcy Laurie as "Protestor" *Marcia Moulton as "Woman" *Kevan Ohtsji as "LAPD Uni 2" *Christopher Pearce as "LAPD Uni 1" *Andrea Savo as Joanna Cruz *William Stewart as "Protestor 2" Uncredited *Everton Miller as "Paramedic" *"Daryl" as Dead Homeless ManFirst name only, mentioned by the property master in The Making of 102 Goofs *In one of the final sequences, at 40:38, we see Art's radio on the floor at the top of the stairs. But in the fight scene with Tobias and Madison the radio is still on his belt when he's trying to eat Tobias at the bottom of the stairs. Trivia * In the film World War Z (2013) near the beginning of the film the protagonist and his family are also taken in by an immigrant family when they most need it. Navigation References fr:Si proche et pourtant si lointain Category:First Season Episodes